Cons

Bottom Line

The new Fire TV adds 4K video support and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant to make the already-excellent $100 media streamer even more powerful.

July 6, 2017

Amazon's Fire TV media streamer takes the powerful performance of its first Android-based streaming box, and ups the ante with ultra high-definition (4K) video support and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. The updated Fire TV retains its broad support for apps, games, and services while keeping the same $99.99 price tag, easily earning our Editors' Choice for media streamers.

Design

The Fire TV is, from the outside, just about identical to the original one. It's a 4.6-inch black square that stands just 0.7 inches tall, making it about the size of a jewel case. The sides are glossy black and bare, save for a power LED hidden on the left side of the front panel. The top panel is matte black with an Amazon logo on it, and on the bottom, there's a large rubberized foot. The back of the Fire TV holds the power connector (for the included proprietary power adapter), an HDMI port, a USB port, an Ethernet port, and a microSD card slot. There are no buttons, switches, or any way to physically interact with the Fire TV on the device itself; once it's plugged in, it's on, and is ready to work with the included remote.

The remote control is also effectively the same as the one that came with the first Fire TV. It's a simple matte black wand with a flat top and a curved underside (that slides off to accept two AAA batteries, which are included). The remote has eight buttons: Voice, Back, Home, Menu, Back, Play/Pause, Forward, and a large Select button located in the middle of glossy black circular direction pad (if you count the directions of the pad, it's actually 12 buttons). Since all interaction occurs via the on-screen menus and voice search is robust, you rarely need to use anything other than the direction buttons and playback controls.

You can also use your smartphone or tablet as a remote with the free Fire TV Remote app for iOS and Android. It turns your into a direction pad for navigating menus, and includes support for text input and even voice search through your device's microphone.

Fire TV OS

The Fire TV interface has been updated since its original version, overhauling the menus to make it appear closer to the Android TV platform. Rows of large, colorful tiles display different apps and content, letting you flip up and down to choose among the most recent apps and shows you loaded, all installed apps, and various flavors of suggested video. A text bar across the top of the screen lets you browse apps, shows, movies, and music categorically, beyond the main menu.

The Fire TV highlights your Amazon-based content in the Movies, Music, and TV categories, but the weighted selections aren't too obtrusive, and other services like Hulu Plus and Netflix are easy to access. Search results have improved over the years, and the Fire TV will now let you know if something you want to watch is on services besides Amazon's, rather than forcing you to manually go through the app.

Alexa and Voice Search

Voice search has been greatly enhanced on the Fire TV. The Fire TV OS incorporates Alexa, the voice assistant used in the Amazon Echo. This lets you ask simple questions about news, sports, weather, and general knowledge, and even make reminder lists that sync with the Amazon Echo app. For general media searches, you can speak any title, artist, genre, or even app into the microphone and it will give you search results.

To use Alexa on the Fire TV, you need to press and hold the microphone button, then speak into the top of the remote. It isn't quite as convenient as using the voice assistant hands-free by saying "Alexa," like you can with Echo devices, but it's still simple and easy to use.

Alexa offers a slew of other functions besides searching for content and answering questions. It can control your Alexa-compatible smart home devices, like Philips Hue lights, Nest thermostats, and Logitech Harmony remote hubs. It can also incorporate third-party "skills" to do anything from playing white noise to ordering a pizza. To get an idea of what else it can do, check out the highest-rated Alexa skills in every category.

Because the Fire TV is connected to your television, it lets Alexa display visual information that the Echo and Echo Dot simply can't show. Asking Alexa for the weather will show you the forecast of the next few days on your TV. Asking Alexa to play some music will display the album art of whatever it finds. It's similar to the touch-screen-equipped Echo Show, but without the actual touch-screen controls; you still need to use the remote to interact with anything Alexa shows you on your TV.

4K Video

The Fire TV supports Ultra HD (UHD) video content, and I had no problems viewing Alpha House on Amazon Instant Video and Daredevil on Netflix in 4K. Both services depend on a fast network connection to display 4K content, so don't count on a consistent UHD stream if your network is slower than either service recommends, and get ready for occasional compression artifacts with network hiccups. That said, both shows came through fast and crisp on the Fire TV connected to our FiOS test network. We recommend using an Ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi if you want the most consistent 4K streaming.

While the Fire TV can show 4K video, the interface is 1080p. This effectively doesn't matter when in use, but sometimes there's a half-second pause when jumping from a 4K video stream to the main menu as the Fire TV switches output resolutions.

Performance

While the Fire TV OS is based on Android, it's very detached from the stock version of Google's operating system. Installing apps from unknown sources and ADB debugging are both options available in the Fire TV's settings, but like the original device, actually getting software onto the Fire TV through channels outside of the Amazon app store is a convoluted process. Because of this, we have decided not to formally benchmark the Fire TV.

From a sheer usability standpoint, the device is very quick. In side-by-side testing, however, it is not noticeably faster than the original Fire TV, which is already quite responsive. Navigating menus with the remote and switching between apps is fast, though there is sometimes a second or two of lag when jumping through lists of search results as the menu populates with media; this is tied to network speed as much as performance.

This doesn't mean you can rapidly switch apps with impunity. Navigating between individual apps and the main Fire TV menu system is fast, but it takes about five to ten seconds to move between apps like Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Sling TV. Get ready for a very Android-like experience of the Fire TV closing background apps without your knowledge; if it's not currently open or the last app you loaded, don't count on consistently jumping straight to where you were. Sometimes the Fire TV would keep my place in a menu and smoothly transition between apps, but it would just as often completely restart apps as well.

Conclusions

Apple has yet to add 4K streaming to its Apple TV, but there other solid options for 4K streaming. The Roku Premiere+ is a very capable media streamer on Roku's platform and features a handy headphone jack built into the remote. The Nvidia Shield Android TV is more expensive than either streamer, but it has some impressive gaming functions you won't find from Roku or Amazon, and is easily the most powerful media streamer available.

If you just want the most affordable way to stream online content to your HDTV and 4K isn't a requirement, the Google Chromecast is compelling, though you'll need a smartphone or tablet to control it. The Chromecast Ultra streams 4K, but it costs twice as much as the standard Chromecast and at that point you're better off looking toward a Fire TV or Roku Premiere+. Amazon's Fire TV Stick is another good option, though it too lacks 4K support and isn't quite as fast as the Fire TV.

The current Amazon Fire TV is just as capable a streaming media hub as the first, with the benefit of 4K video and improved voice search through Alexa. You won't readily notice the difference from the first Fire TV unless you have a 4K-capable HDTV, but a wealth of features and a very reasonable $100 price tag easily earn it our Editors' Choice.

About the Author

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert, reviewing TVs, media hubs, speakers, headphones, and gaming accessories. Will is also an ISF Level II-certified TV calibrator, which ensures the thoroughness and accuracy of all PCMag TV reviews. See Full Bio